One season at the University of Texas was all Kevin Durant needed to prove he was NBA ready. Selected with the No. 2 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, Durant was ready to take the NBA by storm at age 19. Lets take a look at some of the greatest moments in KD's career.
A rookie in Seattle
Durant started in all 80 games he played with the Seattle SuperSonics. He led the team in scoring with 20.3 points per game while adding 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists to his total, earning him Rookie of the Year honors. While his rookie campaign was good enough for Rookie of the Year, the SuperSonics finished last in the Western Conference.
The move to Oklahoma City
The beginning of Durant and Westbrook
During the 2008 offseason, the Seattle SuperSonics were relocated and rebranded as the Oklahoma City Thunder. After drafting Russell Westbrook with the fourth overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft, it was clear the Thunder had their two superstars of the future. Durant upped his scoring average to 25 points per game that season while his counterpart Westbrook posted 15 points and five assists per game. The Thunder only won 23 games but they showed flashes of a team on the rise.
The becoming of an elite scorer
In 2010, Durant played in his first of nine all-star games and counting. He quickly showed he had what it takes to be a franchise player, averaging 30 points and seven rebounds per game. KD became the youngest player to ever win a scoring title and earned his first of six All-NBA First Team selections. He led the Thunder to the playoffs but they fell to Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers in six games. The Lakers went on to win the NBA Championship that year.
In 2011, Durant earned his second consecutive scoring title averaging 27.7 points per game. The Thunder won 55 games, placing them fourth in the West. After defeating the Denver Nuggets and Memphis Grizzlies, KD reached his first Western Conference Finals. For the second year in a row, the Thunder lost to the eventual champions, falling in six games to the Dallas Mavericks.
In 2012, KD earned his third straight scoring title increasing his points per game average to 28. The Thunder returned to the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the West, poised to make a deep run with the emergence of Sixth Man of the Year James Harden. They defeated the Mavericks and Lakers, overcoming the teams that had knocked them out the last two seasons. In the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder beat the San Antonio Spurs in six games. In the championship they faced the Miami Heat, who had lost in The Finals in their first year of their new 'Big 3' era. Durant averaged 30.6 points per game but there was no stopping LeBron James and company, losing in five games.
Playoff woes continue for OKC
Durant had his first 50-40-90 season in 2013, shooting 51% from the field, 41.6% from three and 90.2% from the free throw line. The Thunder earned the No. 1 seed in the West, but after Westbrook went down with a torn meniscus in the first round, their championship chances diminished. KD tried to put the team on his back by averaging a career-best 30.8 points per game the rest of the postseason, but OKC fell to the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round.
"You the real MVP"
Averaging a career-high 32 points per game, Durant won his fourth scoring title in 2014. Add to the fact that he averaged 7.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game while leading the Thunder to a 59-win season and you have KD's first MVP season of his career.
Matched with a scrappy Grizzlies team in the playoffs for the second year in a row, it took seven games for OKC to take care of business. Durant scored 33 points in Game 7 to advance the Thunder. He averaged 33 points and nine rebounds in a six game series victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in the conference semi-finals. Facing the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals again, KD and the Thunder lost in six games. Durant and Westbrook averaged 26 and 25 points per game, respectively, but the depth of the Spurs got to OKC.
A year of injury
To this point in his career, Durant had remained healthy and rarely missed games due to injury. The 2015 season was not one to remember, as KD started the season diagnosed with a Jones fracture in his foot. Between that and two other foot surgerys, KD only played in 27 games and the Thunder missed the playoffs.
The year that changed the NBA
After two years of injuries to the Thunder's top superstars, they were poised to make a run with both guys back to full strength. Durant poured in 28 points per game and Westbrook posted 23.5 points and 10 assists as OKC earned the No. 3 seed in the West. They took care of the Mavericks in five games in the first round as Durant and Westbrook averaged 26 points per game each. They trailed the Spurs 2-1 in the conference semi-finals, but a 41 point explosion from Durant shifted the momentum of the series.
The Thunder never looked back, winning the next two games rolling into the Western Conference Finals against the defending champion Golden State Warriors.
After gaining a 3-1 lead in the series, the Thunder were one victory away from returning to the NBA Finals. On the road in Game 5, KD's 40 points weren't enough to secure the win. In Game 6, the Thunder couldn't hold off Klay Thompson as he buried 11 threes and scored 41 points to keep the Warriors title hopes alive. The Warriors took Game 7, sending Durant home before The Finals for the fourth time in his career. The Warriors went on to lose to the Cavaliers in The Finals, entering the offseason on a bitter note with an open spot for a max contract.
"My Next Chapter"
Durant was the highest priority on every team's list in the 2016 free agency. After meeting with several teams, he had every NBA fan on the edge of their seat nearing his decision on July 4th. He posted a letter on The Players Tribune announcing he was going to join the Warriors, the same team that eliminated him from the playoffs and had just won a league-record 73 games.
The move was received poorly by NBA media and fans, drawing comparisons to LeBron James' "The Decision" in the 2010 free agency. It turned Durant into somewhat of a villain in the eyes of many, and he's embraced the role and ran with it since.
His first season as a Warrior he was second on the team in scoring, averaging 25.1 points per game, just 0.2 points behind Stephen Curry. They became the first team to ever start the postseason 12-0, cruising to The Finals. Matched up with the defending champion Cavaliers and LeBron James, Durant rose to the occasion.
KD was the top scorer in every game, averaging a ridiculous 35.2 points per game to go along with 8.4 rebounds and 5.4 assists. Added to that, he shot 50-40-90 throughout the series on his way to Finals MVP. The Warriors defeated that Cavs in five games and retained their spot atop the league.
Durant restructured his contract in the 2017 offseason to allow the Warriors more cap space to sign valuable role players. The team went on to win 58 games, earning them the No. 2 seed behind the 65-win Houston Rockets. Golden State cruised past the Spurs and the New Orleans Pelicans to reach the Western Conference Finals versus the Rockets. Houston made the series incredibly tough for the Warriors, but with no Chris Paul in Game 7, Golden State prevailed as Durant led all scorers with 34 points. He also averaged a series-high 30.4 points per game.
Taking on the Cavaliers in The Finals again, the Warriors made quick work of their Eastern Conference rivals. With the Warriors up 2-0, the Cavaliers made a push in Game 3. Durant hit a three-pointer identical to a clutch shot he had hit in Game 3 of the 2017 Finals, breaking the Cavs' back and reducing their championship hopes. The Warriors swept Cleveland in four games and Durant was awarded Finals MVP for the second year in a row, averaging 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game.
Durant resigned with the Warriors this past offseason on a two-year, $61.5 million deal. The second year of the contract is a player option, giving Durant free reign to decide his own fate in the loaded 2019 free agency market.
